A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
by potatochip53
Summary: Miko finds an old datapad full of pictures to explore. What juicy tidbits could she discover about Ratchet before the war? This was supposed to be a kids Optimus/Ratchet find out but then it turned into Ratchet raising/being family to the twins.


"Optimus," Ratchet's voice echoed through the base, "I have successfully located an abandoned energon mine. There are no Decepticons in close proximity." Optimus approached Ratchet and quickly considered who to pick to accompany him, although the correct choice was glaringly obvious. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were out on patrol and Arcee was still recovering from their last stand-off with the Decepticons. "Ratchet, you will accompany me to the mine." Optimus spoke in his usual commanding voice.

"With all do respect Optimus, I believe I am well enough to go with you for a simple scouting mission." Arcee voiced her presence. "Be that as it may, Arcee. You are still recovering and we cannot risk a mistake caused by a near healed injury. It is only a simple mission. Ratchet and I shall be fine." Optimus answered firmly. Arcee nodded albeit a bit grudgingly. She then opened the bridge for the two older bots and made sure to keep an eye on Miko who had been strangely quiet. Optimus and Ratchet successfully made it through the bridge without any mishaps and Arcee sighed and prepared herself to concentrate intensely on the screen. You never know when a bot could go down. Arcee took monitor duty very seriously.

"Guys. Psst. Hey, guys!" Miko whispered in a low voice. She didn't want to risk breaking Arcee's concentration and therefore catching her attention. No, attention would ruin her plan. "What do-" Jack was cut off by Miko frantically signaling for him to be quiet. He sighed and lowered his voice, "What do you want Miko?" Miko took a second to look smug. "You remember how when we first got here, you tried to distract me by asking what the bots kept in their sock drawers? Well, why don't we go and find out?" Raf looked torn between curious and nervous. "B-but Miko, what if we get in trouble?" Raf questioned, only a bit shakily.

Miko sighed, looking resigned, "Ok, this is a one time only thing, but if we get caught, you can blame it on me. But this is only because if I find something really crazy and you guys aren't there, you aren't gonna believe me!" Jack and Raf shared a look. How many times did you get to potentially uncover secrets while knowing that you won't be blamed? Almost never. Like Miko said, this was a one time thing. Miko smirked as she saw the looks on the boys' faces, knowing she had won them over. "Okay," she whispered, "Now let's just get past Pinkie over there." Jack rolled his eyes but rose with the other two children and carefully tiptoed into the large hallway. There was one moment where their plan had almost been foiled when Raf tripped over Miko's backpack that she had thrown haphazardly across the floor. Arcee twitched and they waited a bit before moving again.

Once far enough into the bot sized hallway where they were sure Arcee couldn't hear them, Miko began speaking normally again. "Okay, so which bot should we dig up dirt on? There's Ms. Prissy Pants. Or beep boop out on patrol. Oh, what about Ratchet?" Miko had an evil glint in her eye and Jack winced. "Doc bot is always so uptight. I think he needs some blackmail, don't you boys?" Jack just shrugged, not really wanting to face Miko's anger should he disagree. He's pretty sure Raf nodded more out of fear than real agreement. Once they reached the first door, Miko quickly ducked in. Shut doors for Cybertronians were still open enough for humans to slip inside. Jack heard a squeal of delight from inside and then Miko's voice, "Oh this is definitely Doc's room, there's a wrench stuck in the wall!"

Jack ducked in and Raf followed hesitantly, although he probably just didn't want to be lingering out in the hallway alone. Miko was standing in the center of the room, her eyes wide as she surveyed her surroundings. There was a large slab of metal that was probably a bed and another slab that had drawers and a chair. Ratchet's desk. All in all, the room was pretty drab. There were a few crystals in a pot on the desk but that was about it. Everybody stayed away from the crystals, as even Miko could sense that they held a lot of sentimental value. Plus, it looked like they were from Cybertron!

Miko meandered over to the desk and motioned Jack over to help her with the drawer. With the both of them, they managed to open it with little to no trouble. Inside were what Miko recognized as datapads. She had seen both Optimus and Ratchet reading them before. She hit what looked like the on button before groaning. It was a medical textbook! Of course Ratchet would be the kind of mech to keep textbooks in his drawers! Miko quickly turned the rest on just to find that they all had something to do with learning. "Ugh," Miko internally groaned, "Doesn't Doc bot have at least something cool?" She closed the first drawer and moved to the second.

More datapads! Miko groaned again, aloud this time. She was about to close the drawer and call this idea a bust when something caught her eye. There was another datapad, this one looked slightly different than the others, more worn, like it was frequently used. Miko sighed and prepared herself for another medical journal. She hit the power button and Jack and Raf gathered on either side of her. They were both interested, even if they wouldn't admit it. The screen lit up… and Miko stared in shock. There was a picture of Optimus sitting calmly beside Megatron, behind him, Ratchet stood seemingly talking with Soundwave.

Raf shook himself out of his stupor before saying, "I've heard Ratchet mention a Golden Age, before the war started. This must've been it." As shocked as she was, this didn't stop Miko from giving herself a pat on the back. "Best idea ever," she thought excitedly. "Ok boys! Let's see if Ratchet was this uptight before the war!" she basically chortled. The picture was obviously taken by another bot, so this datapad must've been a gift. Excited to see more pictures of unaware Ratchet, Miko hurried on before they were caught. The next picture was what looked like a room covered in soot. Explosion probably. Wheeljack was in the corner, holding his arm which was not attached to his body. Ratchet was at the entrance of the room, looking like he was going to explode. Miko chuckled, good ol' Jackie, always driving Ratch up the wall.

Miko swiped to the next picture and immediately started cracking up laughing. There were two bots, a red and a yellow, standing over Ratchet while he was recharging. The best part was, they were covering him in paint. Miko could spot a few tic tac toe games along with a little devil on his shoulder. The next picture was of those same bots running for their lives while Ratchet was behind them with his famous wrench, or one of his famous wrenches at least. The next picture surprised all the children. It was of Ratchet and what looked a younger Optimus Prime dancing. There were colorful lights and bots drinking what looked to be a slightly off shade of energon. The sign in the corner read, "Maccadam's Oil House." Jack spoke up, "I'm pretty sure I've heard Wheeljack mention that place. I think it's like a bar for them." Raf still looked nervous about getting caught while Miko was practically vibrating what with her amazing find.

She continued to scroll through the pictures with gusto, most of them with unknown mechs. Then, Miko came across a video. It looked like a normal video at first. The cover was slightly blurred so there was no way to see what this video was about before playing it. Now, Miko is always up for doing things she isn't supposed to, but there was just something about this video that made her want to skip it. She scrolled and realized there was only one more thing after this one, another video. "Well," Miko thought, uncharacteristically nervous, "I've come this far. Why stop now?" She did play on the video, making sure the sound was low enough so Arcee couldn't hear it.

It started out with the faces of the two mechs, red and yellow, that had painted Ratchet in the previous picture. They spoke quickly, one after the other, like they always knew what the other would say. The red mech began to spoke and was automatically followed by the yellow one. They went back and forth, neither getting in more than a sentence at a time.

"Hiya Ratch, you're probably gonna hate us for this."

"Actually you already hate us for existing, not to mention pranks."

"But we thought it'd be a great idea to film this and give it to you."

"You can always remember and hate us now!"

"So, you're in an oil bath right now."

"And what better way to be clean than to dump a whole carton of solvent on you!"

"Yeah, I mean, Sunny says you're always so dirty as it is, soo…"

"You definitely need a good cleaning. And don't call me Sunny!"

On that note the two bots set off down a hallway, probably towards the bathroom? Maybe? They passed a few bots along the way. Miko recognized a visored mech trying to get the uptight one to do something. Man, Miko'd have to ask if they ever got anywhere cause damn that visored mech was persistent. A few bots eyed the camera nervously, as if they didn't know what the the red and yellow bots were up to. The longer they walked, the more nervous Miko got. They said Ratchet was in an oil bath. What if he was naked or something? Do Cybertronians get naked? That would be an awful image, whatever it may look like. She'd never be able to look at the medic the same. Aw, what was she kidding, she'd immediately tease and blackmail him!

The two bots reached a door and stopped. Miko leaned forward in anticipation, both boys not far behind her. The recording could barely pick up voices. It sounded like Ratchet was talking or doing something.

"Ah well look at that." The red bot spoke up again, "Looks like Doc Hatchet finally found someone to polish his wrench with." Miko sniggered at 'Doc Hatchet' then looked horrified a second later once her brain realized what 'polish his wrench' was a euphemism for. Jack and Raf still looked confused, their minds probably weren't dirty enough. Miko was known for her snooping and bad decisions. That's probably why she didn't decide to turn off the datapad and leave. The bots slowly opened the door. How bad could i- HOLY SHIT RATCHET IS KISSING OPTIMUS. Pause. Allow brain to buffer. Ratchet and Optimus were kissing, in a bath. That's got to be intimate, even for Cybertronians.

Miko's eyes were glued to the video. What would the bots do next? They were obviously just as shocked or else the solvent would've already been dumped on Ratchet and, consequently, Optimus. These mechs must've had huge ball bearings. Rushing in and pouring solvent over both of the older mechs was a huge feat. Over the yelling, you could hear one of the pranksters yelling, "Sorry boss bot. The ol' Hatchet needed to lighten up a bit!" The video cut off in a blur. By that time, the kids were still rebooting their brains. Ratchet and Optimus. Optimus and Ratchet. Really? Miko thought that they were just weird old friends. It felt wrong envisioning two of the most private bots in a situation like that, let alone watching it with her own two eyes.

She cautiously scrolled to the final video. The bad feeling had dissipated since she'd ignored it and the last video didn't give off any warning vibes. Miko started it up and those two pranking mechs appeared again. It went from red to yellow as they spoke.

"Ay yo, Doc. Ratchet the Hatchet. Unicron's baby."

"It's your favorite pair of twins!" This caught Raf's interest. Cybertronian twins?

"Sideswipe"

"And Sunstreaker." Ok, they had names now, helpful.

"Thought we'd show you some of our best moments we had of you."

"Cause of course, you're our favorite medic!"

"And we wouldn't be alive without you." It was thus the tone began to become slightly morbid. Sideswipe continued to speak, Sunstreaker opting to just sulk to the side, "You found us in a hunk of rubble and despair. We were alone and scared. Just sparklings caught in the midst of war. You brought back Sunny from the brink, you saved us both that day. But then you almost gave me a spark attack when we walked in on that oil bath. You and Prime ever want a foursome, count us in!" Miko squeaked out a slightly mortified giggle. Sunstreaker elbowed his brother and took over the short speech, "We gave this to you so you could always remember us, one of the last pairs of split spark twins that you found dying. No other medic would've given us a second glance. You braved the chance of failure and saved us. And for that we thank you."

Sunstreaker's voice was overtaken by Sideswipe's, "It'll probably only annoy you, but you've got two frontliners at your service. We will always be by your side, but if we aren't. We'll be with you in spark. So wherever we are now, if we're ravaged corpses on a battlefield, safe at base together, or lost somewhere in the far reaches of space, we will always find our way back home. You raised us and wherever you are, that's our home. So see you later Ratch. Sayonara. Hasta la vista. Our paths will cross again, whether it be walking on a different planet, or through the halls in the Well of Allspark's. Til all are one, and until we make it back home. Sides and Sunny, signing off." The screen went dark and the berthroom was filled with a heavy silence.

"Well," Jack said slowly, "This has sure been educational but let's get outta here before we're caught." Miko was still frozen, taking in what those twins had said. Twas in that moment she truly began to comprehend what she had gotten herself involved in. This was war. It was amazing that these bots were even still alive. Each individual bot had proven themselves during the war. These bots had fought and killed and lost so much. Ratchet probably used to have a family. These bots had literally lost the only place they call home. Some had been fighting their whole lives. A wise man once said family doesn't end in blood. These bots who had lost everything, created a new family. And even though Miko could be dense at times, she realized everything that these poor mechs had gone through.

Miko unfroze and followed Jack and Raf, making their way out of Ratchet's berthroom. Of everything she'd seen at base, that datapad had been the thing that made her think and realize and comprehend. Although she didn't visibly mature from that experience, her thoughts were different. She didn't willingly run into a battle that could very well kill her. Miko had a new perspective. Jack and Raf wouldn't say anything and, for once, neither would she. It was a freebie. At least that's what she convinced herself. If she ever saw those twins, she'd have to personally thank them. Alone and away from other bots of course. But for now, Miko was content to just sit on the couch and wait for Optimus and Ratchet to return.


End file.
